Secession begins

• Secession of states of the Deep South—by December 20^th South Carolina had voted to Secede repealing its ratification of the Constitution and dissolving its union with other states.
  • They used the threats to slavery as well as the election of a “sectional” candidate who was “hostile” to slavery; had said “government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free,” and had stated that slavery was on its way to extinction.
  • By February 1861 they were joined by the Deep South states and they together wrote a Constitution for the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis president and Alexander Stephens VP. They were joined by the upper south later.

Buchanan's reaction to secession

• He was the “lame-duck” president and thought secession was just a bluff. He thought people and not states were in rebellion so he couldn’t do anything about it.
• The secessionists seized federal property throughout the South and Buchanan was faced with the task of holding on to some isolated positions such as—Fort Pickens, Florida and some remote islands off the coast of Florida; and, Fort Sumter.
  • Fort Sumter had just been finished and Major Robert Anderson moved his troops there from nearby Fort Moultrie. South Carolina authorities were not amused.
  • Buchanan had finally done something and stood firm telling SC the Unionists would not withdraw. He sent a ship, Star of the West, with reinforcements and provisions and the SC militia fired on the ship turning it away.
  • Buchanan ignored this act of war hoping instead for fruits of compromise to take hold.

Last efforts at compromise

• Congress tried to compromise until right up till inauguration day. Senator John J. Crittenden (KY) called for a compromise to expend slavery to the Pacific using the old 39-30 line. Neither house of Congress went for it.
• The best attempt at compromise was an amendment guaranteeing slavery where it existed.
  • Republicans including Lincoln supported this but not in the territories. On inauguration day it passed the Senate 24-12 after passing the House earlier.
  • It would have become the 13^th amendment and the first time “slavery” was mentioned in the Constitution but the states never ratified it. As it turns out the 13^th amendment was ratified after the Civil War and it abolished slavery.

The End of the Interim Period

• Lincoln’s hints—during his round-about train trip to DC he told the NJ legislature “The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am… But it may be necessary to put the foot down.” Rumors of assassination plot forced him to take a night train through Baltimore and slip into DC unnoticed.
• The inauguration—he again vowed not to interfere with slavery where it existed but he disavowed that any state could secede and he vowed to keep federal areas and collect taxes and deliver mail, unless violence prevented it. He made to mention that no force would be used against anyone anywhere.
  • “I am loathe to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

o       Presidential appointments—in addition to entering office during the most stressful time ever, Lincoln found himself surrounded with political office-seekers from the whole of the Republican Party.

• Many of the members of his new cabinet thought they were better qualified than he was to lead the country and they had even competed for the nomination at Chicago.
• He named William Seward Secretary of State and Salmon Chase Secretary of the Treasury.

o       The conflict begins—the day after inauguration word arrived form Charleston that supplies were running out and Lincoln decided to re-supply after notifying the governor of SC.

• Jefferson Davis at Montgomery decided not to let him. Confederate general Pierre Beauregard demanded the fort to surrender and Major Anderson refused and at 4:30 a.m. on April 12 the shelling commenced for the next 30 hours.
• On April 14^th Anderson surrendered. The following day Lincoln called on the states to supply 75,000 state militia members to put down the rebellion. On April 19^th he declared a blockade of the southern ports.

o       Secession of the upper South—northern states had no qualms about furnishing troops but the states of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina especially had real problems with the thought of fighting against their sister (slave) states.

• Once Virginia seceded the capitol of the Confederacy moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia.
• In the mountainous regions of Tennessee and Virginia unionism ran high and in Tennessee the mountain counties sent more troops to the Union than to the Confederacy.
• In western Virginia the area would break with the eastern part of the state and form the state of West Virginia in 1863 with a constitution that allowed for the gradual emancipation of slaves.
• The suspension of habeas corpus was used to hold Maryland in the Union as the defection of this state would have isolated DC within the Confederacy!
  • Maryland was always a difficult place for the Federals as the first four casualties of the war occurred when troops walking from one train station to another were set upon with rocks and rifles and four of the Sixth Massachusetts regiment were killed.
  • Habeas corpus means that judges can require arresting officers to justify their arrests but once suspended they threw pro-Confederate leaders in jail thereby ensuring a solid pro-Union majority in the state.
• Divided Kentucky—home to both Lincoln and Davis, they had a Unionist majority but tried to maintain “neutrality” while Lincoln assured them that a war against secession was not a war against slavery.
  • Their “neutrality” was made easier when US Grant moved into the state with federal troops.
• The battle for Missouri—although the Unionists outnumbered the Confederates, the sympathizers were able to muster a Confederate militia in the heart of St. Louis.
  • The Unionists chased them from town finally defeating them at Pea Ridge (Arkansas) in March 1862. Border warfare continued unabated however between Missouri and Arkansas.

o       Lee’s decision to join the Confederacy—his father was a Revolutionary war hero and he himself had been in the US Army for 30 years. His estate faced Washington DC and General Winfield Scott offered him the command of the entire army.

• He refused saying that he could not go against his birthplace and resigned his commission and retired to his estate before being called to the Confederate cause.

o       Examples of family splits—Franklin Buchanan commanded the Virginia and sank the USS Congress with his brother on board, John Crittenden of KY had a son in each army.

• J. E. B. Stuart fought against his father-in-law in the Peninsula Campaign.
• Mrs. Lincoln had four brothers and three brothers-in-law in the Confederacy.
• Pro-Union sentiment in the South ran high in some places—every Confederate State except SC organized Federal units to fight for the Union.
  • Some Confederates who were captured chose to fight out west against the Indians rather than stay in prison.
  • In Texas six counties were declared in rebellion and the Confederate state government had to send in the troops to defeat them.
    • Especially hard hit were the German immigrants and 34 of them were executed when they tried to escape to Mexico.
    • The Arkansas Peace Society saw several members executed for opposing secession and war.

Balance sheet for the war—the danger is in thinking that a northern victory was a foregone conclusion as it was anything but. The human factor played a decisive role.

• The North’s advantages—they had a larger population (22 million to 9 million, but even 3.5 million of them were slaves). This was a four to one advantage for the north; the Confederacy then had to employ a far greater percentage of their population to equal the playing field and 1/3 of them died.
• Industry—the only iron industry in the South was the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond and the Northern industries turned out 97% of the firearms and 96% of the railroad equipment. They also had the distinct advantage in banking and finance.
• Farm production—went to the North also as the South would see their agricultural output upset during the war while northern farms increased their output. The North produced a surplus of wheat while those crops in Europe failed leading King Wheat to replace King Cotton.
• Transportation—this advantage grew larger as the war dragged on and the north had about 20,000 miles of railroads to the South’s 10,000 but the Southern railroads were mainly short and built of differing gauges so that cars couldn’t use separate tracks.
  • The North had three lines connecting them to the western farmers and the South only had one from Memphis to Chattanooga.
• The South’s advantage—first they only had to fight a defensive war on their own territory. They also had the strongest military leaders with two military schools in the South, The Citadel and VMI. This in addition to the Southerners that went to West Point.
• Sea power was an important advantage for the North—secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles was one of the best and oversaw the growth of the navy from about 50 to 650 ships.
  • The navy was able to effectively cut off the South from the rest of the world through its blockade. The smaller boats were particularly effective in the Southern rivers as when they gained advantage of the Mississippi and other tributaries.

The War’s Early Course

• Most people thought it would be a quick war with a Napoleon like major battle that causes the army to become demoralized and lose the will to fight.
• Winfield Scott’s strategy for the North—he devised the “Anaconda Plan” where the Federals would blockade the South then divide over and over the South by attacking south by way of the rivers. No one bought into this plan of Scott’s at first because the war was going to be over so quickly.

First Battle of Bull Run—after Fort Sumter Beauregard was chomping at the bit to fight and Davis then sent him north to the railroad junction of Manassas about 25 miles west of DC. Lincoln countered by sending General Irvin McDowell to meet the outnumbered Confederates.

• From there they would quickly move on the Richmond and the war would be over. As such, hundreds of civilians marched out to picnic and watch the battle and came away having seen horror.
• The two generals had been classmates at West Point and just when the Rebels seemed to be defeated General Bernard Bee of SC rallied his troops when he yelled, “Look, there is Jackson with his Virginians, standing like a stone wall.” The resultant nickname will last in perpetuity.
• When McDowell’s charge failed his troops turned and ran back towards DC where they mixed with the terrified civilians. Federal politicians tried to sway the soldiers into fighting by threatening to shoot them, but to no avail.
  • “We called them cowards, denounced then in the most offensive terms, pulled out our heavy revolvers and threatened to shoot them, but in vain; a cruel, crazy, mad, hopeless panic possessed them.”
  • Jackson wanted to give chase but his troops were as frazzled as those of the North. The battle was indecisive but the failure of the Confederacy to give chase may have been the greatest mistake of the war.

Emerging Strategies—after Bull Run all knew the war would last for awhile and now Scott’s Anaconda Plan was put into effect.

• The North would protect DC while trying to attack Richmond.
• The southern coast was blockaded.
• The Mississippi, Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers would be invaded as well dividing the Confederacy.
  • The Confederate plan was much easier; they would try to defend themselves until they could convince France and England to recognize them and aid in their cause.
  • Also, they would count on public sentiment in the North to turn against the war—all they had to do in this regard was hope for a high casualty rate.
    • When they were recruiting their army, diplomats were also in Paris and London while Confederate sympathizers were urging and end to the war in the North.

Naval Operations—after Bull Run throughout the rest of 1861 the navy took center stage in the east.

• In Norfolk, the Confederates outfitted a former Union frigate in iron (The Merrimac) and renamed it the CSS Virginia.
  • It played havoc with Union ships at the entrance to the Chesapeake until the Monitor showed up a day later and they fought to a draw. (The Merrimac was scuttled when they gave up Norfolk shortly after).
  • After gaining naval supremacy, the Union then captured forts up and down the southern coast. By the spring of 1862 David Farragut had captured New Orleans and Baton Rouge giving the Federals control of the lower Mississippi.

Forming Armies—Lincoln’s early calls for volunteers—he called for 1,000,000 troops after Bull Run and the states sent them as state regiments, many led by politicians—many inept.

Confederate army recruitment—they served for a year as volunteers and by 1862 Davis had to use conscription.

• By 1864 those from 18-45 could be drafted. One could avoid the draft in the South by providing a substitute (not of draft age) or by paying $500.
• Also, those who served in “critical” areas could stay at home. Since teachers were critical, an explosion in education occurred in the South during the war.
• Any white who owned a plantation with more than 20 slaves could stay home leading to the cry “a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.”
• Many state officials abused the system by working in “vital” jobs.

In the South the draft was a bit of an irony as it gave a strong central government those very rights that the Southerners had always bitched about back in the Union days.

Union conscription—started in 1863 and included those aged 20-45. One could also buy a substitute or pay $300.

The draft ion the North and the South led people to volunteer, either for bounties or to be spared the disgrace of being drafted.

• New York draft riots—the announcement of the draft in July of 1863 led to riots among the immigrants, especially the Irish.
  • They took out most of their rage on the blacks but also attacked republicans, factories, offices, homes, and by the time it was over one week later, 120 people were dead.
  • “A child of 3 years of age was thrown from a 4^th story window and instantly killed. A woman one after her confinement was set upon and beaten with her tender babe in hers arms… children were torn from their mother’s embrace and their brains blown out in the very face of the afflicted mother. Men were burnt by slow fires.”
  • Union soldiers returning from Gettysburg finally restored order.

The West in the Civil War—settlers continued to stream into the west during the Civil War and precious metals continued to move east. As a result new communications lines and stagecoach lines carried both. New territories organized during the war were Dakota, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona and Montana. Nevada would reach statehood by 1864.

• The Kansas-Missouri border—most soldiers in the west headed east to fight but one problem area was this border as precious metals had to be protected and Lincoln had to win support for his presidency.
  • Confederate leader William C. Quantrill reeked havoc in Lawrence, Kansas when his followers were ordered to “kill every male and burn every house.”
    • They killed 182 men and boys on august 21, 1863.
    • They were opposed by the Jayhawks who originated under John Brown and were the counterpart to the “border ruffians.”
      • The Jayhawk is a mythical bird whose origin is rooted in the historic struggles of Kansas settlers.
      • The name combines two birds-the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob nests, and the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter.

Actions in the West—in the east nothing much happened after Manassas allowing actions in the west to take center stage, beginning with Albert Sidney Johnston’s attempts to take Kentucky.

• Grant’s move against Forts Donelson—Johnston was driven from Kentucky when Grant defeated him here and opened the way to Nashville by water (Tennessee River). 
  • This is where he gets the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” for his terms to Johnston who then abandoned KY and TN for Corinth, MS, a railroad junction.

Battle of Shiloh—after gaining KY and TN Grant continued down the Tennessee towards Corinth.

• Before he could reach Johnston and the Confederates, they attacked him at Shiloh.
• The only thing that saved Grant and his troops was the fatal wounding of Johnston and his second in command called off the attack.
• Grant was reinforced the next day and defeated the Confederates who went back to Corinth with the Union troops too beat up to give chase.
  • Grant said the next day that the ground was “so covered with dead one could walk across the field without touching the ground.”
    • The 25,000 casualties suffered here exceeded the total dead and wounded of the Revolution, War of 1812 and the Mexican War combined!!!
  • For his part, Grant was replaced after this battle by his superior (jealous) Henry Halleck who spread rumors that grant was drunk at Shiloh. The Union campaign then ground to a halt.
    • Halleck, like McClellan had a case of the “slows” and the Confederates abandoned Corinth headed for the rail center of Chattanooga, which also tied together eastern Tennessee and Lincoln wanted to control these rails and the Unionists there.

McClellan’s peninsular campaign—after Manassas Lincoln replaced McDowell with McClellan and he would build a well-trained well-organized army whose troops loved him. But, he was too concerned with losing a battle to go out and win one.

• He used Allan Pinkerton to estimate the strength of his enemy and he always overestimated so McClellan always needed more troop before he attacked. Lincoln wanted the army to move straight south to Richmond but McClellan had other ideas.
• He wanted to sail down the Potomac and then turn up the Peninsula of Virginia traveling to Richmond between the York and James rivers. By the end of May the Union troops had advanced so close to Richmond that Davis sent his own family out of the city, and then McClellan lost.
• Robert Lee now was an adviser to Davis told him to send stonewall Jackson west into the Shenandoah Valley to draw out McDowell who was protecting Washington.
• McClellan fought at Seven Pines to a draw then Robert Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia. The two then fought the Seven Days Battle but Lee couldn’t dislodge the Union forces. Lincoln then demoted McClellan.

Second Battle of Bull Run—McClellan was ordered to abandon the peninsula and come back to Washington where a new attempt would be made on Richmond straight south.

Lee’s invasion at Antietam—Grant took his time going north and Lee and Jackson both attacked the Union forces again at Manassas. The Union was soundly defeated this time too and pulled back to Washington once again. McClellan was put back in charge.

Antietam—(Sharpsburg) Lee now headed for the north for a lot of reasons—not the least of which was to get recognition of the South from Europe.

• He would attack Pennsylvania if he could reach it, but his plans were found wrapped around a cigar in western Maryland, and McClellan gave chase, but delayed as usual allowing Lee to reassemble the army he split up hours earlier.
• McClellan attacked but Lee’s forces were reinforced by A. P. Hill’s troops not so fresh off victory at Harper’s Ferry.
  • The battle ended in a draw after the single bloodiest day in American history—well over 20,000 casualties including nine generals’ dead.
  • McClellan called it a victory but Lincoln had other thoughts, “If you don’t want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for a while.” He then removed McClellan for good sending him to recruiting duty in NJ.
• Lincoln’s appointment of Ambrose Burnside and the Battle of Fredericksburg—he picked the worst general he could have, and Burnside twice before turned down the job as he felt unfit for so large a job.
  • Burnside would attack Richmond in the middle of winter 1862-1863 by way of Fredericksburg. On December 13, they attacked across a large field getting killed by the hundreds trying to attack the Confederate position atop Marye’s Heights.
  • By the end of the suicidal day the Union forces had lost 12,000 and Burnside was said to weep at the order to withdraw.
    • At the end of 1862 the east was deadlocked, the west was stalled and the northern democrats were calling for a peace settlement.
    • The president’ owns competency was called into question with his poor choices for commanders but the bigger picture saw the north’s superior resources beginning to pay off. 
    • After Antietam Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation—to take effect on January 1^st.

Emancipation

The move for emancipation—as the war dragged on slaves began to show up in Union camps and Lincoln at first had to be careful what to do with them as they could chase the Border States south.

• In April 1862 he outlawed slavery in the District with compensation, but by later that year he decided that the war had to be turned into a war of abolition.
  • It would thus lend a moral cause to the war in the north and it would end any hopes the south had of England or France recognizing a slave nation. But, he needed a victory before issuing the proclamation. The best he could do was Antietam since at least Lee had withdrawn.
  • What he did was free any slave that resided in a state that was in rebellion. Robert Smalls took over a southern gunboat and sailed to freedom later becoming a Congressman.

Blacks in the military—mostly they were used as guides, informants or laborers. The thought of using them as military forces scared the white population too much but the proclamation said that blacks could enroll in the military—albeit in all-black units.

• One such unit was the 54^th Massachusetts led by Colonel Robert Shaw and he led an assault on Fort Wagner, SC losing almost half of the unit including Shaw.
• The Confederates threw his body in an unmarked grave along with the bodies of his comrades. The use of black troops was a large blow to the rebel soldiers.
• By 1865 Tennessee and Missouri would abolish slavery and in December 1865 the 13^th amendment became part of the Constitution and would become law when ratified by ¾ of the reunited states.

Women and the war

• In the South women took on all the traditional roles of men as most of the men were off fighting the war. But they also faced the wrath of the slaves.
• In the North Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton volunteered their services as nurses and led the 20,000 who served as such.
  • Barton followed the war and at Antietam she was so close to the fighting that while she worked on a patient a bullet tore through her sleeve and killed her patient!
  • People like Barton had to challenge male doctors and male bureaucrats thus winning greater confidence in their abilities in the process.

Government during the War

• The impact of secession on Congress was monumental—the Southern politicians that dominated were all gone and now the Republicans were in control.
  • They passed a tariff a transcontinental railroad and a homestead act by the end of 1862.
  • The National Banking Act created a federal bank that issued the only notes offered and these bank notes that were100% backed.
    • National banks were now required to back their banknotes with interest bearing federal government bonds. So in the event of a national bank failure, the note holder would be repaid by the bond on deposit. 
    • Also with this act, came the creation of the Comptroller of the Currency, a department of the U.S. Treasury. This gave the Comptroller of the Currency the primary supervisory control of the national banks. 
    • This act gave birth to the national banking system with federally chartered banks. This gave the states the power to limit branching within their borders.
    • This prevented banks from expanding the amount of bank notes in circulation which caused the money supply to decrease.
  • The Morrill Land Grant Act was created to give land to states for use as state colleges for agriculture and mechanics—URI was one.

Financing the War

Methods used in the North—increased tariff and excise taxes on every profession. In addition, an income tax was levied for the first time and the Internal Revenue Act creates an agency to collect these taxes.

• Taxes came in slowly so Congress also reverted to the issuance of greenbacks (color). This money was backed by bonds that the new banks were required to invest in.
• Many business leaders honed their skills during this time too as J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie began their fortunes. The Civil War was quite unpleasant for many Americans but it was great for Wall Street.
  • Many of the era's foremost robber barons— J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Jay Gould— dodged the draft by paying $300 to hire a substitute.
  • This modest investment left them free to spend the war years getting rich instead of getting shot. Many on Wall Street, including Morgan, made a fortune speculating in gold, the price of which rose against the dollar with each defeat of the Union Army.
  • Appalled, President Lincoln announced that he hoped every gold speculator ‘had his devilish head shot off.”
  • Meanwhile, Morgan was financing a deal to buy 5,000 rifles from a Union Army arsenal in New York for $3.50 apiece, and then sell them to the Union Army in Virginia for $22 each.
    • The rifles were defective—causing soldiers to shoot their thumbs off.

Confederate finances—a disaster

• Import and export duties were used but both were low and a direct tax on property was used but the collection was left to the states that filled their quotas by floating loans.
• Taxes on other items after 1863 did nothing but outrage farmers who then found many ways to avoid them. They also sold bonds but as a last resort they printed paper money to the tune of 1 billion dollars worth.
  • By 1864 a turkey cost $100 and a pound of bacon cost $10. Those in the country could provide for themselves but in the cities things were very bad indeed.

 Confederate diplomacy

• Importance of diplomacy to the Confederacy—they tried first and foremost to get outside help and were stymied as they thought that King Cotton would aid them in military aid and political sympathy.
  • Even though they were blockaded they imposed an embargo on their own cotton in the hopes that European countries would come to their aid but instead, they found supplies of cotton elsewhere, like Egypt and India.
• The only time England seriously came close to intervention was with the Trent affair—when the Union stopped this British ship that was carrying James Mason and John Slidell—tow Confederate agents.
  • Lincoln and Seward caved and let Mason and Slidell go.
• The one avenue that the Confederates did succeed in getting supplies was with raiding ships, especially the Alabama and the Florida. They were not considered warships because they leave shipyards unarmed and picked up guns later.
  • These British-built commerce-raiders destroyed about 250 US merchant ships throughout the war.
  • The Laird “rams” (1863)—two CSA warships being constructed in the Laird Shipyard in GB. The ships were designed to destroy Union blockading vessels, and probably would have! US threatened war with Britain if the ships are delivered—the crisis is averted when the Royal Navy purchases the ships.

Union Politics

• Lincoln faced the pressure of the Radicals—they were the abolitionists and were led by Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and Ben Wade—they wanted to confiscate plantations, free slaves, but the majority of the party backed Lincoln’s plan for war.
• Actions of the Democrats—they lost Stephen Douglas in June 1861. Most war democrats supported Lincoln especially senator Andrew Johnson (TN) and Secretary of War Stanton.
  • A “peace wing” caused problems for Lincoln, however, even flirting with disloyalty to the Union. They were called “copperheads” and were mostly in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana and many were formerly southerners.
  • They were led by men like Clement Vallandigham who was arrested under the suspension of habeas corpus and thrown in jail for the duration of the war. He was later banished to the Confederacy by Lincoln.
  • The Democrats meeting at Chicago for their national convention picked George McClellan to head their ticket. They wanted peace but McClellan backed off this stance and the party really was in disarray.
  • The Republicans went with Lincoln who then picked Andrew Johnson of TN dropping Hannibal Hamlin.
  • They changed their party name to the National Union Party for the one election. Lincoln fully expected to lose but the tide turned when Farragut captured Mobile, Sherman captured Atlanta, and Lincoln granted furlough to soldiers to go home to vote.
  • Results—212 to 21 with McClellan taking only NJ, Delaware and KY.

Confederate politics… a disaster also

• Status of politics in the Confederate system—Davis and Stephens were elected to a six-year term and didn’t like one another.
• Davis while in Richmond had to contend with the Richmond bread riot in April of 1863 when women rioted over the price of flour—he persuaded them personally to disperse.
• He had dissenters as did Lincoln, the German counties of Texas, the hills of Arkansas and the Piedmont of North Carolina as well as much of the Appalachian spine presented problems for Davis.
• But his biggest problems were of states’ rights in the Confederacy—the states that seceded did so partly over control of the central government so then they guarded themselves against letting Davis do the same from Richmond.
  • His worst detractor in this regard probably was his VP who left Richmond to sulk in Georgia. For his part, Davis was said to be stubborn, insecure and indecisive, but once he made a decision, he stuck with it.
  • Where Lincoln was pragmatic (practical—go with whatever works), Davis was dogmatic (opinionated without reason).

Wearing down the Confederacy

• Appointment of Joseph E. Hooker to lead the North—Lincoln turned to Hooker as a replacement for Burnside but he too would fail in his first big test.

• Battle of Chancellorsville (a Confederate victory) (May 1-5, 1863)—Hooker had 130,000 under his command and Lee had half that many.
  • Gen. Joseph Hooker, Burnside's successor, had planned to flank Lee, who was still entrenched near Fredericksburg, and get between him and Richmond. However, Lee came out to meet Hooker in Virginia's Wilderness, detaching Jackson for a flanking attack.
  • He divided his army with Jackson going west towards the “Wilderness” and here he was shot in the dark by his own troops. He lost his left arm and then caught pneumonia and died a few days later.
  • Said Lee, “Jackson lost his left arm, but I have lost my right arm, and I do not know how to replace him.” It would be Lee’s last significant victory.
• Grant’s successful assault on Vicksburg—after Shiloh Grant went west to get control of the Mississippi by laying siege to Vicksburg and starving them out.
• Lee’s unsuccessful invasion at Gettysburg—Lee needed to take the heat off Vicksburg and sought to do so by winning a major battle on northern soil.
  • Hooker followed Lee north but resigned halfway to Pennsylvania after a fight with Halleck. General George Meade now took charge.
  • While on their way to Harrisburg (rail center) some of Lee’s troops turned southward to the town of Gettysburg to look for shoes. There they were met by the Union forces and a fight ensued.
  • The battle lasted for three days and was won by the Union defended Cemetery Ridge.
    • Lee had planned for two of his generals to rush across a field on a suicide mission and only one general went for it; George Pickett, General Longstreet didn’t buy into the plan so Pickett’s division went it alone.
    • Of the 15,000 who started the trek across the field, only 5,000 made it. Only a few survivors made it back to behind the Confederate lines where Lee told Pickett to regroup his position—“General Lee, I have no division.”
    • Years later, Pickett said “That old man had my division slaughtered.”
    • The Confederates retreated having failed to take the pressure off Vicksburg—indeed, Vicksburg surrendered on July 4^th while Lee’s men marched home in the driving rain. Meade failed to give chase.
• Union victory at Chattanooga (September 1863)—another rail center in eastern Tennessee and gateway to Georgia, they met at a place called Chickamauga a few miles south of town.
  • Rosecrans won here then chased Bragg into Georgia where Bragg then won at Chickamauga. The South could have won more decisively except that General Thomas (Union) earned his nickname—“The Rock of Chickamauga.”
  • The Union withdrew to Chattanooga however, and Bragg cut the rail lines from the west cutting off supplies. Grant was on his way with Sherman from the West and reopened the supplies lines and replaced Rosecrans as commander.
  • The Union troops then attacked Lookout Mountain in the “Battle above the Clouds” and the Confederate forces fled. Bragg was replaced after this battle and the federals now held all Tennessee. From the Union standpoint—Lincoln now realized he had a general after all—Grant.

Defeat of the Confederacy—during the winter of 1863-1864 the South was sensing defeat everywhere. The Union forces sensed it as well as well and decided to step up attacks.

• Lincoln had a new general and would send him south to Richmond after Lee and Sherman would come north from Georgia.
• The difference in the east was that this time Grant would practice total war against Lee by constantly attacking them killing their will to fight. Grant would also wage total war destroying everything along the way that could aid the Confederacy.

The Wilderness Campaign—May 1864 Grant caught up with Lee next to Chancellorsville and this marked the first time the two generals squared off. Grant suffered heavier casualties but Lee was running out of replacements.

• Although Grant’s officers were in awe of Lee and expected to go north after the battle to lick their wounds—Grant instead gave chase to Spotsylvania with Lee’s troops getting there barely ahead of Grant’s!
  • Some of the deadliest fighting of the war occurred here at the Bloody Angle.
• June 1864 saw the same forces meet up at Cold Harbor closing in on Richmond. Grant’s troops suffered 7,000 casualties in 20 minutes. Many printed their names on the uniforms and one wrote in his diary—“June 3, 1864, Cold Harbor, Virginia. I was killed.”
• After this series of battles Grant became known as the “Butcher,” and the loss of life led Lincoln to think that he would be defeated in the upcoming election. From here Grant went south to Petersburg, 25 miles south of Richmond and a rail center where he dug in to siege the city.
  • The siege lasted nine months with occasion battles such as the “Crater” when the Union forces tried to tunnel under the Rebels and blow them up.
  • Lee’s troops were in bad shape after nine months suffering from a loss of supplies and cold, and desertions ran high. Lee then made a decision to leave Petersburg to join with Johnston’s troops in North Carolina.

Sherman’s march through the South—Sherman took Atlanta and burned the warehouses and rails on his way to the ocean. Helping matters were the fact that Davis replaced Bragg with Johnston then crazy man John B. Hood.

• Hood tried to keep Sherman from destroying Georgia with his scorched earth policy by luring him into Tennessee but Sherman wouldn’t give chase.
• Hood found too many Federals waiting for him in Tennessee anyway and the confederate forces were finally defeated at the Battle of Nashville (December 1864).
• Meanwhile, Sherman burned and destroyed everything in his path—he knew that the important thing was not strength of one’s army but one’s will to wage war, and he broke the will of the South.
• By the time he got to the Atlantic he left a 250 mile path of destruction in his wake then turned north and did even worse to that “hell-hole of secession,” South Carolina.

Appomattox—winter of 1864 was especially harsh on Lee and his troops were also abreast of the news coming from Sherman’s march.

• With many of his troops deserting, he made plans to abandon Petersburg to link up with Johnston’s army in North Carolina. Davis also fled Richmond at this time only to be caught in Georgia in May.
• Lee tried to find the rails south but found his escape route blocked by General Phil Sheridan and then dressed in his best dress blues and met with a filthy Grant and he surrendered.
• Grant let Lee’s officers keep their firearms and the soldiers kept their horses and went home. A week later Johnston surrendered to Sherman. During the month of May confederate forces throughout the country surrendered as well.